What soapy thing have you done today?

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Cut this this morning. I'm having fun messing with the mica sample pack from Nurture but I think I need to get some full jars as I'm having too much fun with colors! My second hanger swirl:

20170511_133733.jpg
 
I made a batch of my usual recipe.
Charcoal bars scented wit NG Aussie bamboo grass.
Just before pouring the lye into the oils, I realise, oils are well below 1000ml (I use Pyrex jug). Panic sets in, I measure everything again and I'm missing 100 gr of oils
Which ones I'm not sure, I'm 100% sure I used all of them.
I decided to add 50 gr of CO and 50 gr of OO. I have nothing much more to lose, there's 700 gr of oils already melted, which will potentially go to waste.

It actually turned out OK, it gelled and it's looking a bit "superfatty" (I invented a word haha). I usually soap with 1-2 or less SF. No zap either. Hopefully it will cure fine.

Time for new scales I would say. :D
 
I did my first experiment with rebatching single oil soaps. It ended up being a mix of Black Soap palm oil soap shreds, coconut oil soap shreds, cocoa butter soap shreds, and shea butter soap shreds.

I melted them down, adding avocado oil, castor oil, using oat milk as the liquid. When everything was very melted, I then added the lye water, fragrance (BB Ancient Sedona), and mixed everything together.

Then I dumped it in a mold, sort of like a hot process soap... A pretty chunky hot process soap.

I liked it so much, I might just use this method for the rest of my single oil soaps. I just wish I had a good way to grate them...

But it smells wonderful!

IMG_20170512_122143_942.jpg
 
I attempted my layered seashell soap. Soooo many simple mistakes. Did I put the salt in this layer? Why did I just pour the FO into the lye water? Why is my sugar not dissolving and sticking to the outside of my blender? Why does my sand layer look so ugly? I ended up doing 2 less layers because I was worried it would not fit. I think it will work, but won't be what I imagined. I also forgot to put tap across the top to keep my milk box from bowing out.

I need to finish a couple other sea themed soaps, then I think I'll come back and try this again. I'll probably do 9 water layers (100g each) and a big sand layer (200-300g) next time and I'll get all my colors measured out ahead of time too. I did all the oils, and had the amounts for the colorants planned out, but I think it will be faster with more prep. (well, duh.)

I'll be back with a picture tomorrow!
 
I still don't have a planer and these need cleaning up, but here it is. The blues don't look much different but they don't look ombre either. I had the same amount of blue in them and just added AC or TD, but some of them look more green than others. (mixed my own oxides and ultramarines) I'm now thinking less is more and do 5 water layers next time. Then I can make sure they are much more different.... and I'll wait until my TKB order comes so I can play with some other blue colors.

33824749413_1a9f0b43ea.jpg
 
I made a tropical summer soap scented with WSP Mango Pineapple. Yum!

40% lard, 24% CO, 15% OO, 10% shea, 6% avocado, 5% castor. 3% SF, dual-lye, aloe juice for liquid and a couple tablespoons of colloidal oatmeal.

I've really been having fun experimenting lately! This batter thickened really fast on me so I had to glop it, but that meant I could also play with the top!

IMG_20170514_152159_368.jpg
 
I made my first goat milk soap. Can't wait to try this one. I really researched the oils thoroughly and came up with a pretty good recipe I think. Next one will have oatmeal in it and just got some sodium lactate to try out. My neighbors probably think I have something going on with the UPS man!

1st goat milk 2017-05-13.jpg


1st goat milk.2 2017-05-13.jpg
 
Today I made my 4th batch of HP. Still figuring out how to keep it liquid enough to play with but hard enough that it doesn't evaporate too much liquid. It was sweet pea (Brambleberry) and I colored it with light pink mica and a touch of TD. It's kind of ugly on top but glitter helped that. :) The swirl was very simple and looked quite nice.
Edit: Now that I think of it, the floral fragrance probably accelerated it a bit. LOL!
 
I'm supposed to be soaping tomorrow and ...

... it's not just raining down the east coast of Australia. It's a set of storms (major rain) coming in from two sides. Olive oil soaps go to goop with a storm front on the way ... and there's two! And I'm doing a demo ...

Did I mention I've found a really cool thing to do with olive oil soap (that gets all funny and goopy about setting in stormy conditions)? ...

It's a bit like wicking beds ... (for you gardener folk out there) ...

Still soaping ...
 
Last edited:
And ... anyone that's interested ... it's not just raining down the east coast of Australia. It's a set of storms (major rain) coming in from two sides. And I'm an Olive Oil soaper. Sheesh. Anyone that soaps this knows that it goes to goop with a storm front on the way ... and there's two! And I'm doing a demo ...

Did I mention I've found a really cool thing to do with olive oil soap (that gets all funny and goopy about setting in stormy conditions)? ...

Still soaping ...

Olive oil soap gets goopy? When you're mixing? That sounds both fascinating and appalling.
 
Oh please tell me you have pictures?? Or even video?

I'd love to see this incredible transformation!

Soap gel on a spoon ... under one month old, so various testing/replication to be done yet.

(The rules of the "game" I set myself was, other than the lye itself, there are no things that are chemically processed). Most of the oils are cold-pressed and/or organic, with the exception of castor oil, which is BP grade (I would not like to get cold-pressed of this oil).

Gel on spoon.jpg
 
Checked soaps that are almost three years old (give or take a few weeks). I have at least one of each, some batches has two. But none of my soaps have developed dos to this day. But I don`t expect to never experience it, it`s probably around the corner, charging towards me as soon as I feel safe...o_O

I am also surprized that they have a faint smell of the fragrance still, as I used so little in the beginning.

The one that smells the strongest is a soap that is made from olive, coconut, castor and almond oil. I added Cedarwood and Geranium essential oil, and it still smells lovely, albeit much weaker than when I first made it. But the soap is FANTASTIC though. I sneezed and it started to bubble!

Ok, water from the tap may have been the reason... But I DID sneeze! (>.<)

Will check it again in 6 months next...
 
Soap gel on a spoon ... under one month old, so various testing/replication to be done yet.

(The rules of the "game" I set myself was, other than the lye itself, there are no things that are chemically processed). Most of the oils are cold-pressed and/or organic, with the exception of castor oil, which is BP grade (I would not like to get cold-pressed of this oil).

That is so cool!! I'd like to follow your soap gel experiments. I have so many questions.

I wonder how long it will stay in gel form? Does it zap? What happens if it gets warmer/colder? Will the upcoming storm change its properties?

You can tell I'm fascinated...
 
Back
Top